Her Last Letter

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Sophia

"No. I can't accept this. You've lost your mind."

Alexis and Zoe looked at me innocently. "What are you talking about?" Zoe asked. "We're perfectly sane. Also-"

"No returns," Alexis sang. "We ripped all the tags and recipts and threw them into the recycling over a month ago." 

That was exactly what I did with my gifts.

Ugh. Sometimes I hated having such brilliant friends. They knew me too well.

I crossed my arms over my chest before staring back at the two large bags sitting directly in front of me. All full of clothes. All clothes. Clothes.

Apparently, Zoe and Alexis saved up all the money that was meant to be for my birthday and Christmas presents and spent it on clothes. I didn't mind getting clothes, but this... This was too much. 

And here I was, thinking they forgot about me.

"Oh come on, please Soph?" Zoe pleaded. "We specifically picked out every single piece with care. Really! Just ask the boys! Ever since Evelyn told us about you turning into a Sophia that much more different than the one we recognize, we decided to do this for you. Evelyn followed you to Middleton, and we couldn't so we went to the mall every weekend and finally gathered up a collection. So please, please, please, wear them."

I sighed. Burying my hand into a bag, my index finger hooked out a pair of jeans. My favorite type. They even bought all my favorite styles. Just generous friends. I couldn't deny if she said it like that. Of course. They were right. I loved them for doing this for me, but how on earth was I going to pay them back? 

"You can pay us back by wearing everything," Alexis added. "And driving your new car to school, and running again."

"Alright, alright," I relented. "I'll do it. After all, I can't resist the sight of my favorite brands." 

They whooped, leaping up from my bed. "Let's get to work!" Alexis exclaimed. "We need to pick out the perfect outfit! Will you wear a little bit of makeup this once? Do we have enough time to do it all?" 

I checked my alarm clock. "There's still two more hours until I have to leave. Absolutely no makeup. The policy still stands to this day." Natural beauty was the most beautiful. I had a strong belief in it. Another thought occured to me. "And I need to help Carter get ready too."

Jayden's head popped in from the open doorway. Some of his bangs fell into his eyes and he blew upward to get rid of them. "That's all settled. Josh and I are helping your brother and Ty's making breakfast. So don't worry about a thing." He disappeared. 

Alexis spread her hands out. "See? We've got it all covered. Now, time to get you ready." 

After forty-five minutes of constant arguing and debating, we chose another sleeveless shirt containing different shades of gray and white patterned designs, black jeans, and my gray and white high top sneakers. They insisted on leaving my hair down, letting it flow past my shoulders and adding a long leather necklace. 

Then, Alexis and Zoe spent another fifteen minutes fussing over how it looked, smoothing out invisible creases and wrinkles. 

"I can't believe we took one hour to choose a bunch of clothes," I grumbled. One hour, sixty minutes, thirty-six hundred seconds. So long. I was once again standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirror that adorned one of my walls. Everything fit nicely against me, though it took a while to adjust to. Years of hiding underneath sweatshirts and large jeans had me a little self-conscious.